Abstract:

Objective To analyze the epidemiological characteristics, clinical features, laboratory testing data, imaging features and prognosis of cerebral sparganosis mansoni. Methods Clinical information of 8 patients with cerebral sparganosis mansoni (as determined through detection of antibody for sparganosis mansoni in serum by the National Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention) admitted in Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center (SPHCC), China, from January 2013 to December 2016, was obtained. The epidemiological characteristics, clinical features, laboratory testing data, imaging features and prognosis were analyzed. Results A total of 8 patients were enrolled in this study, with the antibody for sparganosis mansoni in serum and cerebrospinal fluid. All the patients were from outside of Shanghai, and 6 of them may be infected by inadequately cooked food. The patients were found with headache (5 cases), epilepsy (3 cases), weakness (2 cases), character change (1 cases), and of decline intellecteual (1 cases). The number of eosinophils in cases 1, 4, 5, 6 and 7 was higher than normal before treatment and normal after treatment. The number of eosinophils in cases 2, 3 and 8 was normal before treatment and increased after treatment. All the cases were showed a mass lesion by brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). With the praziquantel [15~20 mg/(kg·d),2 times/d] plus albendazole [15~20 mg/(kg·d),2 times/d] treatment, 5 cases were found with the local foci disappeared, indicating fully recovered, 3 cases were recurrent through repeated treatment. Conclusion Praziquantel plus albendazole treatment is effective for cerebral sparganosis mansoni.

Key words: Cerebral sparganosis mansoni, Radiology, Praziquantel, Albendazole, Outcome